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Servas International
I just heard about a really cool-sounding organization called Servas. “Servas” means “to serve” in Esperanto. Apparently it is a world-wide network of people who promote peace through cultural exchange. The person who told me about it said that it works like this: you apply for membership, which is something like $50. It takes a while to get approved, but you’ll have to check with them for details. Anyway, once you’re approved, you can access a network of hosts around the world who will let you stay with them when you’re travelling for a couple days. And in return, you’re supposed to share a meal with your host and promote world peace through cultural exchange. I presume you can also sign up to host travellers as well. In any event, it seems like a pretty cool concept and it’s kinda too bad the wider world doesn’t work like this anymore. Because I hear it used to, or at least that hospitality was more highly prized than it is today.
Anybody ever heard of or been a part of the Servas organization? I’d love to hear first hand stories!
May 25th, 2006 at 4:37 pm
esperanto…….i saw an ad recently for an old move with william shatner that was in esperanto. it was a gothic horror flick with demon-possesed women and dark mansions. y`know, the typical shitty sixties black-and-white job that took it`s self so seriously that it was funny.
not really on topic but that`s all i got here…………..
May 26th, 2006 at 1:04 pm
minor point, “servas” is the present tense (i/you/he/she/it/we/yall/they serve), not the infinitive. “servi” would be the infinitive “to serve”. “servas” would be more properly translated as “serves”.
oh, and that flim alistair is talking about is called “Incubus” and though the lines are in Esperanto, they are all horribly mangled in the mouths of non-Esperanto-speaking cast.
May 29th, 2006 at 1:38 am
Similar to SERVAS but with a wider network, is the Pasporta Servo of the of World Esperanto Youth Organization:
http://www.tejo.org/
The 2006 handbook lists 1320 addresses in 92 different countries, where one can stay free for a few days - on condition that ones speaks at least some basic Esperanto:
http://www.tejo.org/eo/node/5
This is relatively easy to do in a shorter time than is needed to learn the same amount in any ethnic language. In using neutral Esperanto one does not have the feeling of being a cultural colonialist as one does when speaking English abroad, and one gets a totally different view of a country by staying with the locals. General information on Esperanto is available by simply Googling “Esperanto”, or visiting a site such as the Vancouver, BC. one:
http://esperanto.memlink.ca
It’s certainly something worth looking into.